“It Takes Habitat, & Habitat Takes Work”: Restoring Bobwhite Quail
The threatened bobwhite quail are calling once again in the Nanticoke River Wildlife Management Area in Wicomico County, thanks to habitat restoration by a partnership led by the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service. The species requires early successional habitats, which includes open grasslands and low-growing shrubs. A total of 60 acres of forest was thinned in 2017 and has been maintained as early successional habitat since then with frequent prescribed fires. The result? A quadrupling of bobwhites between 2021 and 2024. According to Quail Forever Chesapeake Bay Chapter Officer John Brader “It takes habitat, and habitat takes work.” Read more from the DNR here.
Garrett College Home to Two Historic Seedlings
Garrett College in McHenry, MD hosted a seedling planting ceremony in July which featured the offspring of two iconic Maryland trees: The Wye Oak and the Liberty Tree. The planting ceremony also celebrated the college’s designation as an Arbor Day Foundation Tree Campus. Participants observed that both the Wye Oak, located in Wye Mills, and the Liberty Tree, in Annapolis, lived to be several hundred years old, and looked forward to similar lifespans for the offspring. “The Wye Oak was once the largest white oak in the country, and lived to be nearly 500 years old before falling in 2002,” noted Katherine Phillips, the urban forestry coordinator for the Maryland Forest Service. “The Liberty Oak was a tulip poplar under which American revolutionaries gathered in the name of freedom. It lived to be approximately 400 years old before falling in 1999.”
Report Beech Leaf Disease Sightings to MDA
As beech leaf disease (BLD) continues to impact Maryland’s trees, the MDA’s Forest Pest Management professionals continue to survey for BLD and the nematode that causes it. Permanent survey plots have been set up across Maryland since 2019. Citizens can report symptoms of BLD via the “Tree Health Survey” app (Mac only, here) or by email to fpm.mda@maryland.gov. For additional information, visit the UMD Extension Website at: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/beech-leaf-disease-maryland/
2025 American Chestnut Photo Contest Now Open
The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) invites photographers and chestnut enthusiasts to submit their images of the American chestnut. The contest is open through December 31, 2025, so there’s plenty of time to get shots of their chosen trees during a couple of seasons.
Winning photos will appear in a future issue of the Foundation’s Chestnut magazine. Prizes include TACF gear, and the first-place winner will also receive a one-year TACF membership.
Complete details about the contest can be found here.
Branching Out, Vol. 33, no. 3 (Summer 2025)
Branching Out is the free, quarterly newsletter of the Woodland Stewardship Education program. For more than 30 years, Branching Out has kept Maryland woodland owners and managers informed about ways to develop and enhance their natural areas, how to identify and control invasive plants and insects, and about news and regional online and in-person events.